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holiday

Given that this year’s Thanksgiving fell relatively early, I managed to recover from my food coma in time to hit the ground running with all things Christmas by the first day of December. The apartment is decorated, the shopping is well under way, and the first batch of Christmas cookies is, uh, almost gone. ...

I’m kind of a stickler when it comes to rules—rules set by other people, that is. Unfortunately (or perhaps naturally?), over the course of my graduate school career I’ve gotten a bit lax about some of my self-imposed rules (e.g. making the bed every morning, hanging up my clothes every night, washing all the dirty dishes before going to bed, etc.). But you know which Mara-made rule I always abide ...

I’ve spent the past week or so visiting family, and one thing this trip has done—in addition to providing plenty of laughs and an abundance of old stories—is reaffirmed how much I enjoy cooking for loved ones. This is something I don’t get to do very often, since my family, the fiancé, and I all currently live in different states. ...

In elementary school, I learned that leprechauns are mischievous and elusive beings. Tasked with devising a leprechaun trap, however, I was unable to come up with anything more elaborate than a shoebox with some (chocolate) gold coins inside—in retrospect, this probably should have been an early indication that I was not cut out to be an engineer, which is what most of my family members are! Not ...

Over the last few months, I’ve realized that food is my love language. If I want to show my affection or support for someone—a friend, a family member, Dr. Cake Pants, Phoebe, etc.—I turn to food. So naturally, with the most love-centric holiday on the horizon, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to create a special dessert: chocolate snack cake with strawberry frosting! ...

After committing several grave food blogger sins this fall by ignoring Halloween and not posting anything with pumpkin—I intended to, but my attempt at a vegan pumpkin cake was an irredeemable flop—I’ve been itching to share just one more holiday recipe with you ...

After the classic chocolate chip cookie, the cookie I remember most vividly from my childhood is the molasses crinkle. Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and topped with a subtle sugary sparkle, the molasses crinkle strikes me as the cookie version of Throwback Thursday: often forgotten but enthusiastically embraced whenever someone dusts off the old recipe card and shares it with their ...

No joke: these cranberry orange white chocolate cheesecake bars nearly ruined all other cheesecakes for me. Under normal circumstances, I gravitate towards the chocolatiest desserts I can find. In fact, if it’s been more than a couple days since my last chocolate fix (even if that’s just a handful of chocolate chips), I start to get a little antsy. These cheesecake bars ...

If you had to choose one food and one food only to eat for the rest of your life (setting aside the obvious issue of nutrition), what would you pick? I’ve loved fruit for as long as I can remember, and I know that strawberries in particular would earn a place on my shortlist. ...

I know very little about Irish cooking. As far as I can tell, I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me. I’ve never been to Ireland. I have been to a few Irish pubs and eateries, and while I do love me a good boxty (my love for potatoes is no secret), my most memorable Irish restaurant experience was an unfortunate incident in which I eagerly dug into a scoop of Guinness ice ...